US expansion for West Midlands university

The global expansion of the University of Warwick has reached a major milestone with a breakthrough in its plans for a new campus in California.

Following the recommendation of its Senate and the approval of its council last year, the university had established the University Development Trust to develop teaching and research in the State, and ultimately, establish a physical presence there.

That ultimate ambition has been helped with the decision by Roseville City Council to approve the sale of a two-story redundant fire station in Downtown Roseville for conversion to a graduate school campus.

The 42,000 sq ft building represents the university’s first bricks and mortar presence in the United States and complements its plan to build an undergraduate campus on 600 acres west of Roseville in Placer County.

Placer County is a leader in the greater Sacramento Region and is one of California’s fastest growing counties. The county’s largest city, Roseville, is about 20 miles from Sacramento and 80 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Construction on the new project is scheduled to begin this spring with completion expected in the spring of 2018.

Professor Stuart Croft, Vice Chancellor and President of The University of Warwick, said:  “The University of Warwick is delighted to partner with the City of Roseville and the University Development Foundation to create a unique, high-quality graduate school in downtown Roseville.”

Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, President of the University Development Trust, added: “We appreciate the City of Roseville’s effort to create this great opportunity for Warwick and our region. This location for a graduate program is a great step toward our goal of expanding higher education opportunities and seeing a world-leading university built in our community.”

The graduate campus will be led by Professor Seán Hand, who was named Warwick’s first Dean for its US graduate campus last year.

The courses are awaiting regulatory approval in California.

Dean Hand said: “Of all the choices to locate this graduate campus, we were immediately taken by the opportunity to locate in the heart of downtown Roseville and to become an integral part of this community.

“We are a civic university and this location allows us to be a part of all the great advancements that are happening in downtown Roseville.”

Warwick’s aim is to have a campus supporting around 6,000 students by 2031.